Aerial and Blizzard
by xmens
Summary: Events of First Class from the points of view of Lily Hawthorn and Lara DeWitt
1. Prologue

Authors Notes

Disclaimer - We do not own X-Men

* * *

**Prologue**

The library was unusually quiet today, something Lily was thankful for. The only other people around were at the opposite end of the vast room; she could hear them talking amongst themselves if she listened hard enough. Yet the young girl still found herself squished into her usual, secluded corner. She gripped a large fantasy novel; one she had read too many times to count but still loved all the same. Fantasies were her favourite genre; they made her feel less _weird._

Her heart shaped face and silvery eyes screamed innocence. The long blonde - almost white - hair didn't help either. But Lily was anything but innocent; childishly stubborn maybe, but not innocent. The things she could do - and had done - removed any trace of that.

Reaching the end of her page, she closed her eyes and focused solely on her surroundings. She found she could hear no one at all now. She smirked and with a gentle swish of her hand and the hushed whistle of a breeze, the page turned.

She sat up straight suddenly, a noise nearby startling her.

"Lily Hawthorn?" A man who looked to be in his late 20's said.

"How do you-"

"I'm Charles Xavier." He continued, cutting her off, "and this is my friend Erik Lehnsherr." He gestured to a taller man beside him, who stared blankly at her. "We were wondering if we could talk to you?"

Lily's mouth felt dry and the words died on her tongue when she tried to speak. _Who are these people?_

"We told you who we are." Lily's breath hitched._ First they managed to get to me without me hearing anything and now they are hearing what I am thinking?_ She pushed back her chair with a sharp screech that made her wince; wanting to get away from them as quickly as she could.

"We're like you, Lily." The first man told her softly before she managed to get past them. "We're mutants - like you."

She froze, she had never heard of other people being like her. Charles smiled at her in reassurance seeing her cross her arms hesitantly. She remained silent. "That's how you didn't hear us coming over here and how I heard what you were thinking." She looked up as he said this, meeting his eyes before she shifted her gaze to the second man, silently asking what he could do. They both ignored this.

"Erik and I want you to come work for us; with others like yourself; for the Government."

"Others?- other people like me?" Lily stammered.

"Yes." Charles smiled, "so what do you say?"

* * *

Lara took a seat on the stool in the middle of the bar, leaning her arms against the table with a huff. She was becoming very impatient waiting for the bands to come on. Lara got moody when she had to wait, even if it was for just 5 minutes. She wiped the drops of sweat off her forehead with the back of her pale bare hand. It looked like a hundreds of people had turned up to the concert; the small club was full.

She glanced around the room checking if anyone's eyes were on her before she took hold of the warm glass of vodka; the warmth of the room had heated up her drink. She squeezed the glass gently and it crackled sounding like when you step on fresh snow. She brought the small glass, which was now covered in a light frost, to her cherry red lips and swallowed a mouthful. The alcohol burnt as it ran down her throat; she hated the taste of vodka. She placed the glass back down on the bar.

Lara brushed her fingers through her licorice black hair which was damp with sweat; the flashing lights dotted around the room every so often shined down on her, revealing the purple highlights in her dark wavy hair. Her head was oval shaped and her skin looked bloodless - Lara wasn't one who caught the sun easily. She had very faint dimples that only showed up when she smiled and her face was spotless. Her eyes were outlined in black make up. The irises of her eyes were beautiful; they contained every shade of blue. They looked icy, like the clearest sky and the deepest ocean - captivating and entrancing.

Lara took the last sip of vodka. She wanted to leave. She had done enough waiting.

"Hello." Lara jumped at the sound of a man taking the spare stool beside her. He had brown hair and was wearing a grey jacket, he looked in his late 20's. Lara froze. For once she didn't know what to say.

"I'm Charles Xavier and this is my friend Erik Lehnsherr." Charles pointed to a man that was sat the other side of Lara. Erik looked a little older than Charles. Both of them were leaning against the bar and smiling at her. Lara felt small with both of them staring at her - a feeling she rarely felt.

She wanted to get out of the awkward situation, "I have to go." Lara got to her feet, beginning to walk towards the exit, she looked back at the men with a frown and increased her speed to the main doors.

"We just want to talk, Miss DeWitt." Lara froze in the middle of the room, she spun around but the men were no where in sight. The voice was in her head.

"H-how did you-" She was interrupted by Charles, he was behind her with Erik.

"We're like you." Lara jumped again, spinning around to face the men. "We're mutants, just like you." Charles told her.

"You can get in people's heads?" Lara looked astonished, she had never met anyone like herself.

Charles nodded. "Something like that."

Lara's eye sight moved to Erik, "What about you?" She asked, eager to know.

"We're here to talk to you, not about us." Erik spat.

Lara raised her eyebrows at his response, wanting to hear what he had to say. "There's other people like us. Me and Erik want you to come work with us, for the government with people like you." Charles explained.

"Other people? Like me?" Lara looked bewildered. "You mean there's other people with powers? Not just us?"

Charles chuckled, "Yes. So what do you say?"


	2. Chapter 1

Authors Notes

Disclaimer - We do not own X-Men

* * *

**Chapter 1**

Lara followed Charles down the long hallway; it was dull and empty with no décor whatsoever. She was nervous, another feeling Lara never felt. She was usually a very confident girl who could be stubborn at times. She was having second thoughts about agreeing to Charles and Erik's offer. _What if they hated me? _

They reached the end of the hallway where there was a set of double doors. Charles placed his hand on the left, ready to open it.

"Charles, I'm not so sure if this is a good idea." Lara murmured under her breath; Charles knew what she said by what she was thinking.

Charles beamed at her, "I assure you they won't hate you." Lara felt a little annoyed that Charles was still reading her mind without her permission but she shrugged it off as he opened the door. They wondered into the games room where there were another seven people. Lara's feelings of nervousness instantly vanished. _I thought there would be more people. I'd been panicking over this?_

"Raven, introduce Lara to the others for me." A pretty girl looked up at the sound of her name and skipped across the room with a large grin on her face.

"You must be Lara! I'm Raven!" She looked to be in her late teens with a youthful rounded face and long blonde hair that flowed past her shoulders in loose curls. She was wearing a short black dress. "Let's meet the others!" Raven grabbed Lara's right hand pulling her along to a group of people sat down in the middle of the room, completely silent. Raven seemed very excitable, a lot more so than Lara - or any of the others in fact.

Lara was first introduced to a short, tanned girl, clad in a black dress and a leather jacket. She looked about the same age as Raven. She didn't say much and forced Lara a parting smile before she joined the others again. She was then greeted by Darwin; a fairly older looking man with dark skin. He was wearing a blue t-shirt with casual trousers and seemed a lot friendlier than her first encounter. Lastly, Raven brought her over to a blonde boy who introduced himself as Alex in a low, appealing voice. He was broad and towered over Lara; he felt a bit intimidating. Alex also seemed incredibly moody; Lara just assumed he didn't want to be here.

A ginger boy then approached with a smirk; his pupils dilated. "Hi, my names Sean Cassidy." She felt warmth emitting from him. Lara glanced at his face giving him a bleak look not knowing what this warmth was. His face was freckled; in fact, his whole body was. She'd never seen someone covered in so many. His skin beneath was clear and colourless - he was paler than her. She had to admit he was cute. She found herself gazing at his piercing, pale blue eyes and Sean's smile dropped. She hadn't realised how long she'd been staring at him in confusion to what she felt.

"I'm Lara."

Sean's face lit up, "You have really pretty eyes." He stated, suddenly.

Lara blushed, "Er- thanks? I guess." She wasn't sure how to respond, she couldn't even remember the last time she got a compliment.

He took a step forward, closing the gap in-between them. "You wanna' go out sometime?"

Lara's laugh was harsh, "Are you serious?" Sean noticed the repulsive look on the girl's face as she took a step backwards.

"Yeah, I'm serious." Sean nodded. Lara laughed again, this time louder. Sean's cheeks burnt red.

"I don't think so." She walked away from the red head towards the only person in the room she hadn't met, except a formally dressed boy who was sat quietly in the corner.

"Hi, I'm Lara. You must be Lily?" The blonde haired girl caught a glimpse of Lara, giving her a double take. _She looks so familiar, where could I possibly know her from? _

"Yeah." Her voice was quiet, she seemed discreet.

"She barely talks." Alex commented. Lara shot him a dirty look but the other girl just ignored him. Everyone minus Lara and Lily were now sat down in the middle of the room.

"Alex, don't be mean. Come sit down!" Raven smiled, waving her hands in the air towards her, signalling for the two girls to join the group. Lily waited until Lara wandered over to the others before following. Lara looked at the empty black, leather chair, which Sean noticed and jumped in the empty space with a grin before she could sit down. She scowled at him and sat beside Angel on the sofa, who was beside Darwin. On the opposite sofa sat Hank, Raven and Lily. Lily had her legs crossed and her hands delicately placed in her lap. Anyone could tell how awkward she was feeling. Alex sat beside her on the second black chair with a coke in his hands.

"We should think of code names." Raven broke the silence, "We're government agents now, we should think of secret code names - I wanna' be called Mystique." She stated.

"Damn! I wanted to be called Mystique!" Sean exclaimed.

"Well tough, I called it." Raven chuckled and suddenly scales of blue ran across her body before another Sean appeared in her place. Sean jumped back in his chair in amazement. Everyone else looked equally shocked and clapped. Lara and Lily couldn't believe their eyes. _Another mutant? Another 6?_ Lily thought.

"Besides, I am way more mysterious than you." She morphed back into herself, smiling, clearly pleased with the response she got. She stroked her legs before turning her attention to Darwin. "Darwin, what about you?"

"Well, Darwin's already a nickname and you know... sort of fits." He confessed, "Adapt to survive and all." He got to his feet and parading towards the fish tank. "Check this out." Darwin dunked his head in the tank immediately growing gills on his face. He turned his head to look at everyone whilst his head was still in the water with a smile from ear to ear. Everyone laughed and clapped. Darwin removed his head from the fish tank shaking the water off his head.

"What about you?" Darwin pointed at Sean.

"I'm going to be..." Sean stared at the table in concentration, "Banshee!"

The formally dressed boy, Hank, pulled a baffled look, "Why do you want to be named after a wailing spirit?"

Sean stood on his feet, "You might want to cover your ears." He knelt down in front of the table, taking in a huge breath. He checked to see if everyone covered their ears and gave Lara a smirk. She rolled her eyes. Sean whistled, shattering the glass from the large, rectangular window into tiny pieces. Everyone laughed again whilst clapping, Sean sat back down in his seat. _Please don't pick me. _Lara thought.

"Your turn!" He pointed towards Lara. _Great._

She knew what she wanted to be called, "I want to be Blizzard!" She grinned.

"Why Blizzard?" Darwin asked. Lara got up of the sofa walking to an empty space, behind Sean and Alex, standing in front of the window that Sean didn't smash. She took a deep breath before holding up her right hand, a cold mist escaped the palm freezing the window in an instant. Everyone's mouths dropped as they clapped and laughed. Lara felt pleased with herself, she skipped back to her seat.

"That was amazing!" Sean praised, watching her. _Could he make it any more obvious?_ Lily thought whilst shaking her head unnoticeably.

"Thank you." Lara found herself blushing, "What about you?" Lily noticed Lara was looking at her.

She cleared her throat, "Erm-" A sudden rush of red stained her cheeks, "I'll be... air, air, air-" She murmured to herself repeatedly, "Aerial." She stated proudly.

"Aerial?" Hank asked, puzzled. Lily got to her feet and ambled to a clear space, removing her cardigan. Two small wings unfolded themselves and fluttered out. They were almost see-through with thin black rimming but as she moved, the light shone on them giving with a slight aqua glow in areas. The group of mutants clapped. "What's that go to do with Aeriel?" Hank questioned.

Without saying a word, Lily raised her hands and at once a strong gust of wind brushed past them all, taking chairs and a table with it and throwing them against the frozen window. It smashed at the contact into tiny pieces like the first. Lily smirked but it was soon wiped off as Alex snickered. "Is that it? You've got fairy wings and you can blow stuff away." Lily clenched her teeth in anger as he smirked. "Terrifying."

"What's your problem?" Lara almost yelled. It was the second time he'd said something horrible to her, she already hated him.

"I don't have a problem." Alex looked at her, his eyes like daggers.

Lily took a few steps towards him, straightening herself up as if to look more confident than she was. "Alex." She taunted. He stood up when she reached close proximity to him. "I could suck _all _of the air from your body right now and kill you within seconds."

His smirked slipped from his face as his mouth parted, trying to form the words of some kind of comeback. Everyone stared in shock at the scene in front of them before they began clapping with smiles. Alex coughed to try and regain composure and slumped back in his chair, and taking a sip of his coke; he looked fairly annoyed.

"What about you?" Lily asked, as she took her seat again, looking at the dark haired girl.

She stood up of the sofa, "My er-" She grabbed her jacket and pulled it off. "Stage name is Angel." Sean whistled when she turned around, revealing a tattoo of wings on her back. Sean caught Lara staring at him. "And it kinda fits." The tattoo of wings sprung out her back turning into real wings; they were much longer and thinner than Lily's. Everyone's mouths hung open.

"You can fly too?!" Raven asked, glancing between the two girls.

Angel smiled at Raven, "Uh huh and erm-" She moved the direction of her body facing the window that Sean smashed. She spat out what looked like acid. It flew outside across the lawn landing on the statue's head, sizzling. She put her jacket back on and looked at Hank, "what's your name?" He looked away in embarrassment.

"How about Bigfoot?" Alex joked. No one laughed.

"Well you know what they say about guys with big feet." Raven commented, looking down at Alex's feet. "And yours are kinda small." Everyone laughed but Alex.

"Ok," Darwin changed the subject, "Alex, what is your gift, what can you do?"

"Erm, it's not erm-" He scratched his head, "I just can't do it. I can't do it in here."

"Well can you do it out there?" Darwin pointed towards the lawn, on the other side of the smashed window. Alex shook his head. Everyone began cheering him on until he gave in. He huffed placing his coke bottle on the table and charging outside, not even noticing the shattered glass.

"Get down when I tell you." He demanded. Everyone walked over to the window, their eyes glued to him.

"You like my power?" Sean smirked at Lara.

"That's not going to work on me." She retorted, joining the others to watch Alex. _Why does he keep doing this? Can't he get the message. I'm not interested. _

"Get back." Everyone moved in but quickly edged above the window frame again.

"Get back!" Alex yelled. No one did.

"Whatever." He murmured, he began swinging. Large red, glowing hoops circled his body. They flew across the lawn in different directions. The kids knelt down for cover. One of the hoops sliced the statue in half that Angel had spat on earlier. The mutants applauded him, Raven and Lara jumped up and down in excitement. Hank and Lily gazed in astonishment.

"You can be Havok!" Raven told him. Alex shrugged trying to hide his smile.

Angel turned on the music player, turning the volume up high. Raven squeaked in excitement and jumped onto the sofa starting to dance with her. "You wanna' dance with me?" Sean asked Lara who completely blanked him out, she jumped on the table and started dancing on her own.

Lily looked around at everyone. Alex and Sean were hitting Darwin as hard as they could, his body adapting so he couldn't feel anything. Lara, Raven and Angel were dancing on the furniture and Hank was hanging off the ceiling. Sean ran across the room with a chair throwing it against Darwin's body, the chair broke into pieces. Lara watched them whilst dancing on the table.

"Come on, Lily!" Raven called. Lily smiled, jumping on the furniture and joining in.

Lara and Lily finally felt normal being around people like themselves; after years of thinking they were alone but the content feeling was shattered quickly.

"What are you doing?!" Moira shouted. The mutants froze. Raven, Lily and Lara jumped onto the ground. Hank fell back onto his feet, his cheeks flushed. Moira glared at them with her hands on her hips, "Who destroyed the statue?"

"It was Alex." Hank confessed. Alex shot him a displeasing look.

"No. Havok. We have to call him Havok, that's his name now." Raven corrected Hank, walking closer to the adults.

"And we were thinking," She pointed at Charles, "You should be Professor X." Moira glanced at Charles with a disgusted look. Raven pointed at Erik. "And you should be Magneto."

"Exceptional." Erik's lips quirked.


	3. Chapter 2

Authors Notes 

Disclaimer - We do not own X-Men

* * *

**Chapter 2**

The following day gave the 8 mutants time to get to know one another. They had spent the hours sharing stories about their lives before now and how they were found. Sean had just finished telling them all _everything_ about himself and unsurprisingly turned to Lara next. "What about you then? What was your life like before you got here?"

Lara shot him a look of annoyance and fidgeted around uncomfortably in her seat. She sighed. "I don't want to talk about it." She mumbled.

"Come on, Lara!" Sean pushed. Everyone else looked just as eager to know but stayed silent seeing the visible discomfort painted across her face. Sean half expected her to demand him not to ask again but she remained quiet. "Alright..." he started, hesitantly, "How were you found?"

"I just _said_ I don't want to talk about it." She hissed, crossing her arms defensively.

"I just want to know..." He whined, "Everyone else so far has said where they were."

"I don't _care_ what everyone else has done. _I_ don't want to talk about it. Just shut up and drop it."

Sean was taken aback. He looked between the other mutants, who all looked equally stunned at her outburst, quietly hoping for one of them to say something in his defense.

No one did.

He slumped back in his chair dejectedly; he stayed silent after that.

"So... what about you, Lily, where were you?" Raven inquired, defusing the tense air.

"I was at the library." Lily said, tentatively.

"What were you doing at a _library__?"_ Alex jeered. Lara straightened up as he said this, any previous signs of being uncomfortable slipping away. The feeling was instantly replaced with boiling irritation. She couldn't _stand_ him.

She was about to - once again - tell him to leave Lily alone when the blonde spoke up, "I was baking a cake, Alex." She retorted, her words dripping with sarcasm. "What do you _think_ I was doing?"

The boy rolled his eyes, not bothering to answer her. He gave her a smirk before getting up and joining Darwin who was playing at game at the far end of the room. Lily straightened up as he left, the weight of the self-awareness and tension she felt from being around Alex being lifted.

"Seriously, what is his problem?" Lara huffed. She flopped back against the sofa with a grunt and turned back to Lily, asking her to continue.

"So... I was at the library - I was reading, before anyone asks again - and well, I have very good hearing because I can amplify the vibrations of air molecules-"

"You can _what?!"_ Sean interrupted, earning a glare from Lara.

"Doesn't matter." Lily stated, "but the point is, I _should_ have heard Charles and Erik coming over but I didn't because Charles apparently did some weird thing that stopped me from being able to." She explained, her brows furrowed in confusion.

"You talk very technically about your own powers but call Charles' _some weird thing._" Hank laughed. Lily smiled shyly in embarrassment and was about to defend herself before she was cut off.

"Whoa, I didn't know the circus was in town!" A man yelled as he walked past the window; another man was at his side watching him. "Come on honey, give us a little-" he flapped his hands, gesturing wings at Angel, who glared back. "Oh, and you!" He pointed at Lily, repeating the action. "No? Come on, let's see the foot." He taunted, tapping his foot. Hank stood up and walked towards the window. "There it is! Come on Bigfoot, let's go!" Hank ignored the man's jibes and pressed the button to shut the curtains with a wave. "Hey, hey! Come on, hey!" The man protested as they drew to a close.

The group sat in silence as the footsteps of the men walking away grew quieter. Their eyes shifted between one another waiting for someone to speak up.

"They're just guys being stupid." Raven finally said. Her voice was soft as she tried to reassure Angel.

"Guys being stupid, I can handle. Ok, I've handled that my whole life. But I'd rather a bunch of guys stared at me with my clothes _off_ than the way these ones stare at me."

"At _us."_ Raven shrugged. Lara opened her mouth, about to agree but a distant noise broke her train of thought. Everyone's heads whipped to the direction of the window as it continued.

"What was that?" Darwin asked, his voice full of caution. "Something doesn't feel right." He slid past Alex - who then followed - and opened the curtains. The other mutants also followed and gazed out the window, their attention directed towards the sky; something was going on up there. "What is that?"

Before anyone could answer, a loud scream echoed outside before a body slammed against the floor. The 8 mutants instantly jumped back with a scream, slowly reversing further into the room as more and more people suddenly fell from the sky. Raven was sobbing as she clung desperately to Lara.

"Get back! Get back!" Someone yelled, banging loudly on the glass. Him and about 10 others were armed with guns. "Do not leave that room! We're under attack."

The 8 of them yelled and pointed behind him as a red figure appeared out of nowhere and all at once they started shooting. The mutants ran behind one of the sofas for cover as the figure disappeared before reappearing behind a man in front of the window. The shots were directed there and the glass shattered instantly letting bullets hit the walls.

The shots then stopped as everyone's attention was averted to the opposite window where a large tornado was tearing across one of the fields. Lily felt almost in awe of it, knowing she didn't have that kind of power. With everyone's focus lost, the red figure reappeared - holding small swords. More screams rang as he sliced and stabbed them all, breaking Lily out of her trance.

"Stay here, my ass! Let's go!" Darwin roared, running out of the room with the others in tow.

They raced down the hallway, yelling out as they crashed into more armed men. "Get back!" One of them bellowed as he grabbed Angel. She struggled against him with a scream, trying to get past.

"We can help!" Darwin protested.

The mutants were shoved back roughly, as a blinding orange light exploded in front of them all. The men shot at it and the 8 of them ran back to the supposed safety of the room. They crashed into a halt in the middle of it, fixed helplessly at a second tornado outside one window and the last of the guards being killed out the other. A guard was blasted against the remaining glass, shattering it and a suited figure stepped through the empty space; the red figure coming in from the other side.

Several gun shots sounded from the door and someone on the other side begged to be let go in return for the mutants. His pleas were ignored and a loud thud could be heard as he dropped to the floor, dead.

The mutants clung to each other - some crying, some of the verge of panic and some trying their best to keep calm. Lara tried to mask her fear as she hugged Raven tightly, who was now sobbing uncontrollably. Lily gripped Hank's arm, unknowingly and squeezed it tighter as a third man stepped through the door.

"Where's the telepath?" he immediately demanded answer to.

"Not here." The red man murmured.

"Too bad - at least I can take this silly thing off." He sniggered, removing the silver helmet he was wearing. "Good evening. My name is Sebastian Shaw." He announced, making his way towards them. "And I am not here to hurt you."

"Freeze!" A lone guard shouted outside, pointing his gun at Shaw.

"Azazel." The red man disappeared less than a second after the command, reappearing behind the unexpecting guard and killed him with a grunt.

Shaw smirked and handed his helmet to the other man and continued his speech. "My friends - there's a revolution coming where mankind discovers who we are, _what we can do_. Each of us will face a choice - be enslaved or rise up to rule." He paused eyeing each of them, searching for signs of emotion. "Choose freely but know that if you are not with us then by definition you are _against_ us. So, you can stay and fight for the people who hate and fear you. Or you can join me." He smirked, straightening his back, pridefully. "And live like kings." He glanced at Angel, realising he was getting through to her. "And queens."

He extended his hand towards her and she took it without second thought, being led away from the others.

"Angel."

"Are you kidding me?"

"Come on," she croaked, "We don't belong here and that's nothing to be ashamed of." Darwin reached for her but she ignored him, turning away from them with Shaw.

"We have to do something." Lara stated. Darwin's forehead creased in thought and he turned to Alex, whispering something to him inconspicuously.

Angel, Shaw and the other two stepped through the broken window and stood in a line, facing the remaining 7 mutants.

"Stop." Darwin called, "I'm coming with you."

Angel smirked and Shaw stepped towards him. "Good choice, so tell me about your mutation."

"All of you need to leave when I tell you to, ok?" Alex demanded the rest of teenagers in a hushed tone, unnoticed by Shaw. He clenched his fists angrily when they didn't answer, continuing to stare hesitantly at him. "Ok?" He repeated, "Trust me."

With exasperated sighs, the 5 of them nodded.

"Well I adapt to survive." Darwin meanwhile informed Shaw. "So I guess I'm coming with you."

"I like that." He nodded, gesturing for him to join his team.

He stood beside Angel, locking eyes with Alex and shouted his name.

"Get out!" Alex roared as Darwin grabbed Angel, his back turning to stone to shield them both. Large red, glowing rings circled his body and he released them in their direction with a growl. He grinned as they landed directly on his target. Or so he thought they did.

Shaw stopped them, absorbing their energy into his body. "Protecting your fellow mutants?" He let out a breath of satisfaction as the rest of the power was drawn into him. "That's a noble gesture." He raised his eyebrows as a confused Alex. "Feels good."

Darwin charged at him, raising his fist but was blocked. Shaw grabbed him by the cheeks; Darwin made no effort to struggle as he brought his glowing red hand up to his face. "Adapt to this." He whispered, menacingly. He dropped the glowing orb into Darwin's mouth, who staggered back as it instantly took effect.

The four of them disappeared, leaving only Alex to witness what was happening. Darwin shook; his whole body turned metallic looking before turning into stone. The same red glow bubbled between the cracks of the stone like lava, making the cracks grow larger. He turned to Alex, seeing the desolation apparent in his eyes and reached in his direction. The blonde just stared at the scene in front of him, unable to do anything to help his friend.

The glow disappeared for seconds before returning and consuming Darwin in it as it exploded in a intense, glaring flash.

And just like that, he was gone.


	4. Chapter 3

Authors Note

Disclaimer - We do not own X-men

* * *

**Chapter 3**

Hours had passed since the loss of Darwin, no one had spoken since. Lara and Lily had barely known Darwin but they both felt as if they lost someone extremely close. Lara had never experienced the feeling of loosing someone close to her. Lily on the other hand, had.

"Raven?" Charles called, running towards Raven and pulling her into his embrace. Lara and Lily blinked back into reality at the sound of his panicked voice.

"We've made arrangements for you to be taken back immediately." Charles clarified.

"We're not going home." Sean commented in response almost immediately.

"What?" Charles frowned.

Sean looked at Alex, "He's not going back to prison." He turned his head to the right of him, fixing his gaze on Lara. "She's not going back to wherever she was before." Lara's eyes met Sean's, she wasn't sure how to react.

"He killed Darwin." Alex snapped, attempting to reason with Charles.

"All the more reason for you to leave. This is over."

"Darwin's dead, Charles." Misery was painted over Raven's face, "And we can't even bury him." The five teenagers looked at the ground, Lily felt her heart sink.

"We can avenge him." Erik stated with his hands on his hips. The mutants gazed up at Erik, their faces puzzled but filling with hope.

"Erik, a world, please." Charles guided Erik a few paces away from the mutants, out of hearing range.

"Are you ok?" Sean asked Lara who hadn't stopped fidgeting. She nodded, although she wasn't sure how she was feeling. Lara looked further down the bench at Lily and Hank, both of them sat gawping at nothing, still in surprise of the events that occurred the previous night.

Charles looked back at the mutants, none of them had a smile on their face. "We'll have to train." He stated. "All of us." The teenagers didn't speak. "Yes?" His voice was slightly taut, he wanted an answer.

"Yeah." Alex answered for them, the rest of them nodded.

"Well, we can't stay here." Hank spoke. The place was covered with rubble, the building completely destroyed. Even if they reopen the department, it's not safe. We've got no where to go."

Charles grinned, his eyes sparkling. "Yes, we do."

* * *

Lara paraded into the kitchen still wearing her pyjamas with a stretch, she was the last one up; she usually overslept.

"Morning!" She yelled, giving the five mutants an open mouth grin.

"It's the afternoon." Lily told her friend. Lara looked baffled, lowering her arms. "It's half twelve." Lily added.

"Oh, oops." Lara skipped over to the fridge, opening the door and taking out the carton of orange juice. Sean ambled towards Lara with a smirk.

"When's training?" Lara asked, whilst pouring the juice into a glass. She was eager to train. Lara was a very lively person who loved taking part in activities, she wasn't one to give up easily.

"Later today." Alex told her. Lara groaned.

"You can help me train." Sean leant on the surface. Lara ignored his comment, drinking some of the orange juice, feeling his stare burn a hole through her head.

"I finished my book." Lily sighed. Hank peered over her shoulder.

"No way! You read Eugene Anderson books!" Hank gasped in awe. Lara, Sean, Raven and Alex all glared at Hank and Lily, surprised at Hank. He usually kept to himself.

"Yes! He's amazing! You read them too?" Lily had never met another person who loved Eugene as much as she did, she couldn't hold her excitement in.

"I've read his books since I was young. I can't get enough of them." Hank boasted.

"What's your favourite book?" Lily asked, before Alex interrupted with a loud cough, trying to cover laugh. Hank and Lily noticed all the mutants were staring at them. Both of them burnt red in embarrassment.

"So, Lara?" Sean transferred his concentration towards the dark haired girl.

"What?" She sat on the stool against the table beside Lily who was still talking to Hank about books. Sean followed her, leaning against the table, standing opposite her.

"Where are you from?" Sean asked curiously.

She hesitated, "California."

"Is that where you were found?" He continued to question her.

"You asked where I was from not where I live." Her voice full of sarcasm. She drank the remaining juice from the glass.

"Why won't you tell me where you were found?" He inquired. Lara brushed her fingers through her knotty hair and began fidgeting in her seat. She looked absent as she stared down at the table.

"Lara?" Sean muttered. She looked up at Sean, her eyes catching with his. Her breathing decreased but her heartbeat sped up, her mind turned blank. Sean leaned in closer to her giving her a clearer view of his piercing blue eyes. She completely stopped breathing for a second, unknowingly. Her chest felt tight with an overwhelming fluttering in her stomach; she almost felt dizzy.

"What did you do before they found you?" Lara left the trance, peeved by Sean.

"Stop asking!" She yelled. Sean leant off the table in shock by the change of tone. Everyone jumped at the sound of her voice, leaving their conversations to see what was going on.

"I will when you tell me!" Sean argued back. Lara shot up of the stool, scraping the chair back. Lily winced at the high pitched sound.

"I barely know you! I don't want to tell you!"

"How will I ever know you then?!" Lara fell silent at Sean's response. She clenched her teeth, she found him incredibly aggravating.

"Just shut up." She mumbled, knowing she'd lost the argument.

"Or what? You'll freeze me?" Sean grinned mischievously, provoking her. Lara clenched her fists turning them a bright blue, her hand froze. Raven noticed, dreading what Lara was thinking of doing.

"Lara, let it go. He's not worth it." She tried to convince her, she didn't want to find out what Lara's plan was. Lily and Hank stood up of the stools, worried at how this was going to turn out. Lara unclenched her fist, darting out the room.

"I think she likes you." Alex joked. Sean scowled at the blonde then ran out the room after the girl.

"Lara!" He called, grabbing her wrist and pulling her back. She glared at him, her eyes burning in rage. Lara grabbed Sean's hand, yanking it away from her.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know it bothered you that much." He noticed her doleful look.

"I don't like my past." She confessed, "I don't want to talk about it." Sean nodded. He'd barely known Lara long but the amount of time he had, she had never been this lethargic.

* * *

"Can you see body heat?" Charles questioned the young girl.

Lara's look was puzzled, "What?"

"Can you see my body heat?" He repeated the question.

"I think I'd know if I can see body heat." Lara chuckled, her laughing faded when she noticed Charles was serious.

"You felt something when you met Sean. You know what I'm talking about." Charles declared. Lara crossed her arms, shaking her head.

"Tell me what I'm feeling. Just concentrate on me." Charles ordered.

Lara rolled her eyes with a huff before staring at the professor in concentration which quickly failed. "This is stupid. I can't see body heat." She moaned, uncrossing her arms. She wasn't near enough patient to find out.

"Concentrate harder." Charles instructed.

Lara took a deep breath before focusing her attention on Charles, squint-eyed. She stared at him for a while before anything happened; a glowing light formed around the man's body, his head and chest radiating with the brightest yellow, the rest of his body was lit up with a shining red.

The expression on the girl's face was pure perplexity but at the same time contentment.

"You're glowing." Her voice orotund in joy. She smiled at Charles and he returned the gesture. "What does it mean?"

"What do you see?"

"You're mostly yellow around your chest and head but you're red around everywhere else - you're very warm."

"Happiness." Charles replied, smiling to himself for a moment. "Now, let's focus on the ice. Try and freeze the bottom pool of the fountain." Charles guided Lara towards the fountain. It was huge. She stared at the fountain with brooding eyes.

"You're serious?" She raised her right eyebrows. Charles nodded. "Don't you think I should start with something small? I've only tried freezing small things before." She justified.

"You need to push yourself." Charles stated, nodding at Lara, signalling for her to begin.

Her eyes were glued to the fountain as she raised her right hand, taking long deep breaths. The icy mist escaped the palm of her hand spreading across the fountain, escalating across the garden where Lily was sat reading.

"Lily!" Lara squeaked, squeezing her palm shut. She had frozen the entire fountain and the grass leading up to the bench Lily was sat on. Lily spun around in alarm jumping out the way of the ice. She glared at Lara, bug-eyed. "Sorry!" Lara turned to face Charles with an 'I told you so' look. Charles gave her a fake smile, concerned about the fountain.

He swayed on the spot, his face contorted in thought - wondering what to do next with her training. "Right." He finally said, clasping his hands. "Lily!" He waved, gesturing her over.

She stood up hesitantly, adjusting her clothes, before sluggishly making her way over. She nearly slipped several times on the ice; Lara bit the inside of her cheek, trying not to laugh - but she soon arrived in one piece.

"Right. Lara, I want you to look at Lily's body heat." Lily looked alarmed, shrinking back slightly. "It's nothing to worry about." He muttered reassuringly to the blonde.

Lara nodded and directed her full attention onto Lily, her eyes fixated on the girl's body, making her a quite uncomfortable.

"What do you see?"

"Erm, there's a blue glow around her legs; they're cold." She started, edging her stare upwards. "There's a red glow around her chest, that gets more intense around her head and it's almost yellow around her eyes - they're really hot." She shook herself out of her trance, her vision of Lily returning to normal. "What does that mean then?" She asked, looking between the two of them.

"Well, how are you feeling Lily?"

Lily's brow furrowed at this as she pondered, "Erm... well I guess I was surprised by you nearly freezing me." She flashed Lara a grin and continued, "and I guess I still feel the same after you just did that. I didn't know you could do that."

"Neither did I." Lara chuckled.

"So Lara, remember that as surprised - learning what lots of different emotions look like could be very useful to you." Charles insisted. "I think that's enough training for today."


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

* * *

"Good morning Lar! You're up bright and early today." Sean sang overly cheerfully as a groggy looking Lara plodded into the kitchen the next morning.

"What." She grumbled, "Don't call me that." She shot him a glare but he continued to smile over-exaggeratedly. "And you can thank yourself and Alex for that. You woke me up."

"Sorry, my dear."

"Don't call me that either." She dragged herself away and sat opposite Lily at the kitchen table, giving her a tired smile and a half-hearted good morning. Beside Lara sat Hank, who gave her a welcoming grin and then returned his attention back to the book he was reading - the same one Lily had finished just the day before.

"You look nice this morning Lara." Alex laughed, his mouth full and overflowing. He was leant against the kitchen worktop, eating a slice of toast.

"I swear to God, Alex. I don't do mornings." She grunted, rubbing her tired eyes.

He laughed even harder at this. "What are you gonna' do, freeze me?" He scoffed, earning a giggle from Sean.

"Like you did to me yesterday?" Sean teased, joining Alex and leaning beside him.

Lara looked up from behind her hands, her eyes were red from the rubbing and they were glaring piercingly at the two boys like daggers. "I will make gigantic ice cubes and throw them at your heads." She snarled through gritted teeth.

"I can help with that if they're too heavy for you to throw." Lily chuckled.

* * *

"Toast is ready!" Raven announced to Lily before asking Lara if she wanted any. Lily took the warm slices, brought them back to the table and spread them with butter and jam. Minutes later Lara was doing the same; she was a bit more awake now.

"Give me a bit Lara." Sean begged, appearing beside her; he was almost sitting on Hank.

"No, go away." The dark haired girl replied, her mouth full. Lily giggled causing Sean to glance at her and then at her food. She shook her head profusely, knowing the same request was about to be aimed at her.

"Dammit." She heard him mutter quietly to himself.

Raven sat down beside Lily, deciding Sean could make his own toast this time; she had already made him 4 slices. He removed himself from the small space between Hank and Lara, grumbling to himself about how hungry he was and how no one would feed him. Lara rolled her eyes at the boy but a small smile graced her lips, not going unnoticed by the two girl's opposite her.

"Lily!" Charles called, startling them all. His head was poking around the door frame. "Remember to meet me outside in 20 minutes to start your training." Without even waiting for her reply, he dashed off down the corridor.

Lily raised her eyebrow at his rushed visit, turning to the surrounding mutants and realising they all had similar expressions.

"What are you doing for training today?" Lara asked.

"I have no idea..." Lily murmured, nervousness painted on her face.

"Oh wait, this is your first session isn't it?" Lara asked rhetorically, looking almost dumbfounded. Lily just nodded.

"Are you nervous?" Alex smirked.

"Don't ask her that, Alex." Raven snapped at him; she turned back to Lily. "You don't even need to be nervous, you should be excited!" She grinned.

"It's really fun!" Sean enthused, jumping on the table to sit between Lily and Lara.

"Ew Sean, move, I'm eating here." Lara grumbled, attempting to shove him off.

He ignored her, continuing to question the apprehensive blonde. "Aren't you excited about being able to use your powers better? And being able to do more things with them?"

"Well yeah..." Lily breathed, "I want them to get better but it's attempting to do more things with them that I'm nervous about." She admitted.

"Why?"

She sighed, fiddling with her fingers uncomfortably. "I don't know... what if I can't control it or something?" She trailed off. "What if I hurt someone?" Her voice cracked slightly as she whispered the last part but she cleared her throat to try and cover it up, hoping it would go unnoticed.

"As I said when we first met - you couldn't hurt a fly." Alex spoke up, sounding almost comforting? There was no snigger or hint of snide in his voice. It was almost as though he was trying to be nice to her.

* * *

"Lily!" Charles smiled as he saw her approaching. She was tugging at the sleeves of her cardigan; he could tell she was nervous just by looking at her. "Ready to start your training?"

She nodded silently, a forced smile stretching across her face.

"Well I've got you a volunteer." He informed her. He cracked a grin, his serious demeanor turning into much more relaxed one as he spoke, "and I want you to blow them away."

"What?"

Sean came waddling towards them, clad in a very padded body suit and headwear. He looked like he could hardly move.

"What are you wearing?!"

"It's a safety procedure - so he doesn't get hurt when he gets blown away." Charles informed her.

Sean nodded, his head barely moving in his padded head gear. He mumbled something incoherently.

"You can't be serious? I can't concentrate with him looking like that!"

"Well you have to; we don't have much time."

Lily sighed, eyeing Charles gingerly. Her gaze grazed over Sean again and bit her lip, stifling a giggle.

"Concentrate Lily." Charles raised his voice, sternly. "Now - I want you to blow Sean over."

She looked between the two of them, waiting for one of them to change their minds but neither did.

She met Sean's reassuring stare and without being given the go ahead from Charles, she shot a blast of cool air at his stomach. He instantly crashed to the floor with a thud.

Lily laughed loudly, doubling over and clutching her stomach. Sean let out a muffled laugh too earning them both a strange look from Charles.

Sean wriggled around on the floor and eventually rolled onto his front, cursing to himself at the effort. He finally managed to push himself onto his knees and then his unsteady feet after slipping several times. He spun around to face the blonde - who was still laughing - with a proud beam.

Lily's laughing seized and after being upright for mere seconds, Sean plopped to the floor again as a second blast collided with his chest.

She smirked triumphantly, looking to Charles for his opinion.

"Very good." He praised. "And now, I want you to lift him into the air."

His words took Lily by surprise and her whole demeanor instantly changed as her previous nerves found their way back. "Erm... I'm not so sure I can do that." She admitted, apprehension flooding her speech.

"I know you can." He encouraged with a bright smile. "All you have to do is get the air current beneath him and then direct it upwards."

The young girl still looked nervous. She drummed her fingers against her slacked jaw; her eyes glossed with what looked to Charles like fear.

"There's nothing to worry about Lily." He tried to reassure her. Her hand fell from her face as she met his eyes, hardly acknowledging his words. "You won't hurt him."

She just nodded, unconvinced.

"Are you sure I won't?"

"Positive."

She exhaled loudly and straightened up. "Ok. I'll give it a go."

* * *

"Lily!" Hank called as she walked past his lab where he was sat.

She backtracked and peered around the door frame, looking around the room in it's entirety before her eyes landed on him. "Oh, hi Hank." She smiled.

He waved his hand, gesturing for her to come over.

She strolled in at his request, looking in awe at the different equipment littered along the tables. "I've never been in here before."

"This is my laboratory." He announced pridefully, settling down a large pile of paper he had previously been looking through.

"I gathered." She smirked, "I like it - it's interesting."

His eyes lit up. "Thank you."

She sat down opposite him, glancing over the various sheets of paper and the expensive looking equipment. She never seen anything like half of it; she daren't touch them.

Her hands fell limply in her lap, clearly unsure of where else to lay them. Hank's lips twitched upwards at this making her cheeks turn rosy.

"So how was training?" He finally asked, shoving some of his things aside for her - a stark contrast to how she would have handled them.

"It was surprisingly good actually." She told him. "I was nervous for nothing."

He looked relieved. "That's great."

"What about yours?"

"Oh, erm, it was ok." He paused, his gaze dropping. "I guess."

He shrugged with a sigh and looked back up, meeting Lily's silvery stare as she waited for him to elaborate. His eyebrows sunk into a frown. "I'm not really fond of my mutation if I'm honest. So that includes the training." She nodded in understanding and his face softened. "But yours on the hand - yours is-"

"Hi!" Interrupted a cheerful sounding Lara. "What are you guys doing?"

The two young mutants' heads shot up and looked in her direction simultaneously.

"Oh, er, nothing." Hank stumbled, palming the back of his hair, embarrassed. "Just talking."

Lara was taken aback by his weird reaction.

"Come sit with us." He said, regaining some of his composure.

She looked between the two of them curiously but neither of their expressions gave anything away - Lily, in fact, looked just as confused as she did. "Alright..." she trailed off, making her way towards an empty seat.

She halted suddenly, her breath catching in her throat with a gasp. Her eyes were pinned on an object on the far end of the table.

Hank and Lily looked between each other and the frozen girl, who's breathing was now speeding up increasingly.

"Lara?" Lily eased off of her chair. "Lara, are you ok?" She reached for her shoulder but Lara shook her off immediately.

"I'm sorry. I, er, I have to go." She choked, still fixated on the object.

Hank followed her line of sight, landing on a small black case with an empty injection laying inside.

He quickly closed it and Lara hurried out of the room instantly without another word.

The two stayed silent, staring at the space she had just fled from.

Lily turned to him, "I should go after her."

He nodded and just like that she left almost as fast as Lara had, leaving him alone again.


End file.
